Monday, February 23, 2009

Curtains Quandary


These are the fabric swatches I am considering for the curtains. Let's go from left to right...

On the very left, the fabric is the one I used as wallpaper. Next to it, the first fabric I had chosen for the window treatment. It is silk shot fabric where the color changes depending on what angle you look at it. But the fabric is a little too stiff and I was not looking forward to pleating it. After all, there are about 25 windows including the bay windows, and with 50 panels of curtain to make, I need a fabric that's easy to work with!



Next came the light sage green fabric. It's soft, and would probably work fine with the pleater. But the color was too neutral. That would be my backup fabric.

Below, you see the fabric of my dreams; it is the softest chiffon that transitions from mossy green to gray-green and has glitters all over. BUT, here is the sad story ... this piece of fabric was bought a long time ago, even before I thought of making the Garfield. Since it was bought to dress a doll, I did not think of buying a lot of it. I did go back months later to buy more, but the store did not carry it anymore. So, now I don't have enough fabric for the curtains. I will use it somewhere or the other ... perhaps to create a canopy for the bed.

NOTE: when you find a fabric that you absolutely love, buy a LOT of it. You never know when you will need it.


The final contender, and probably the winner: I found the above fabric at JoAnn fabric and craft store and bought a yard of it immediately! The fabric comes perfectly pleated like this, so I won't even need to take out the pleater! I think that ends my search for curtain fabrics ...

... but does the search really end, ever?

5 comments:

Kathy Calhoun said...

I like the "fabric of your dreams" the best. Do you have enough for the first floor rooms and then choose something else for the other floors? In Victorian homes, the "public rooms" got the very best and the rooms seen by only the residents got things that were less showy.

Sumaiya Mehreen said...

I had considered that...I only have enough to dress the bay window in the living room. I am reluctant to have different color curtains on the side walls of the living room. All the windows in the same room should have the same window treatment I think. If it was a thicker fabric, I might have been able to pull it off, but since it's chiffon, I think I would need at least 4 inch wide strips to create the nice billowy curtains...need to have at least 5-6 pleats on each panel. I am so picky! :(

Sans! said...

Arghh, curtains..did a mess of it for Tasha's room in Queen Anne. Eager to know how you are sewing the curtains, Maiya and how they should eventually look. Do post pics of your windows with your curtains before you put the furniture. By the way, your bay window deserves special treatment. The pic you post with Dev at that window is superb.

MiniKat said...

I hate when I don't end up with enough fabric. I wish you had more of the chiffon because that truly is gorgeous. The pre-pleated from JoAnn's would be my choice.

Jorge Cubells said...

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Jorge